Chicken Meatloaf

No pictures and just a quick concoction.  Our market started carrying ground chicken.  Ms. I Love to Cook loves meartloaf but will not eat red meat.  I tried a variation of this recipe a few weeks ago but was not really satisfied with the final product.  This evenings meal was worthy of a post.  As always when working with raw meat (especially chicken) be careful not to cross contaminate and wash hands, utensils, and work surfaces often.



Ingredients

• 1 lb ground chicken
• 1/3 each red, yellow, & orange peppers
• 2 small to medium carrots
• 3 stalks of celery
• 6.5 oz jar of sundried tomato paste (Mantova)
• 1/2 medium white onion
• 2 tbl of fresh thyme
• 8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese (Bel Gioioso)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• Handful of Italian parsley
• 2 medium eggs
• 1 cup of bread crumbs
• Salt & pepper
• 6 oz can of tomato paste (Contadina) - (Final topping do not mix)

Preparation

• Chop (small) all the vegetables and spices
• Place the chopped vegetables and spices into a large mixing bowl
• Cut the mozzarella cheese into small 1/4" - 1/2" cubes and add to the mixing bowl
• Combine all of the remaining ingredients - eggs, bread crrumbs, sun dried tomato paste and ground chicken (NOT the can of tomatoe paste) in the mixing bowl
• Salt and pepper the ingredients
• Using your hands thoroughly mix all of the ingredients together
• Transfer the mixture to a greased bread pan or similar baking dish
• Spread the can of tomato sauce on top of the pre-cooked meatloaf
• Place the baking pan into a 350 - 375 degree pre-heated oven
• Cook for 20 to 30 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked - I watched the loaf and once the juices were bubbling clear and the tomato paste on top began to melt into the loaf I was confidnt that it was flly cooked.  However, I did remove the loaf from the pan and cut into the middle to assure myself that the chicken was fully cooked.

Serving Suggestions
I was late getting home and this dish came out of the oven at 8:00 p.m. so the serving was from the pan to our plates.  I would recommend a spring salad with a vinegarette dressing and a glass of sauvignon blanc or if you like something less dry perhaps a viognier.